Author's Note:

I almost forgot I was writing this story. Almost.

After cleaning out some folders and putting chapters in their correct places, I remembered that I'm supposed to update this one next.

I'm in the process of writing two new stories, as I've mentioned before. Spoiler alert, they both take place after Sonic Forces. One is Sonadow, the other contains a lot of hedgehogs.

With that in mind, enjoy your next chapter…


Seven~

His dark lashes fluttered as they opened, his glossy, emerald green irises slowly coming into focus. His eyes felt sore and heavy, his throat felt choked and swollen, and his head pounded in both his ears. He goes to take in a deep breath, then remembers somberly that he can't. He instead settles for closing his eyes again, lifting his hands to his face to rub his forehead in irritation.

Then he seemed to realize something odd.

Like how he wasn't in the bed he had been in when he blacked out.

His eyes snapped back open, and he attempts to sit up, feeling pain wash over him as he did. His arms thrashed once they began to feel the liquid on them, and with a look of pure shock, he stares before him.

Water.

He was surrounded by water.

It was a plain that stretched all the way to the horizon all around him, sitting him in about an inch or two of it.

In front of him, sat someone he hadn't seen in a long time.

"…C…Chaos?" he stutters.

The god itself sat only a few feet from him, its legs crossed and its hands resting on its knees. Sonic sat all the way up, pulling his legs towards him, crossing them like the god before him did.

From an outsider's point of view, it was quite the picture. Sonic realized then that Chaos and he both shared a lot of characteristics. Where Sonic's pelt was a deep, cobalt blue, Chaos shone in a bright, sky blue. Sonic's eyes were dark, emerald green, while Chaos's were bright peridot. They literally looked like opposites; Sonic was dark, Chaos was light. Both blue and green, almost complete mirrors of each other…

The water to his left rippled, as if a water droplet had landed in it. As this happened, it made a soft chime, and then there was one on his right, then a few more all around.

He knew what this was. Somehow, he understood. This was Chaos talking, and he knew this language.

You are awake.

"Where am I?" he can't help but ask after the deity greets him.

Another series of chimes echoed in the vast space, and his blue ears twitch in recognition.

A safe place. One that I can speak, and you must listen.

A frown pulls on his fawn lips at this answer. "What's going on?"

More chimes of water followed.

Why do things happen the way they do?

The hedgehog blinks in surprise. Chaos was answering his question with a question. "Um… I don't know, but I know there's a reason for everything that does happen."

Correct. You did not die because of what happened to you.

Sonic could feel something heavy rise in his throat. "I don't understand. I was severely wounded. What else could have caused me to…" he trails off.

In a way, the water chimes were soothing to him.

You have been through harder trials before, have you not?

The hedgehog meets the god's eyes. "Yes…"

And you have survived.

Blue ears started to pin back. "Where are you going with this?"

Why did you survive before? How did you survive before?"

Sonic felt his patience falter. "I… I don't know… I know my body heals itself with my energy."

So why didn't it this last time?

Sonic froze. The god had a point, one he hadn't thought of. Why didn't his energy heal him like it should have. Hell, he even transformed into his dark state. That alone should have healed him…

"I…" he starts slowly. "I don't know."

Because I stopped it from healing you.

His eyes widen, and he stares in shock at the god. "You…you what?"

I did not allow your energy, our energy, to heal you. To save you.

Sonic could only stare. "You're saying…"

You died, because I wanted you to.


The purple chameleon adore a frown as he opened the little brown door, raising a brow at the guest behind it.

"Rouge the Bat. What brings you here?"

The ivory, sultry female gives him a luscious smile. "Hello, darling. I always forget you have quite the looks about you."

Espio sighs. "You didn't answer my question."

Rouge mock pouts, rubbing a hand over her head. "Not gonna invite a girl in? Not very polite, if you ask me."

"Whose there, Espio?" a grumbling voice questioned, and soon Vector stood, blinking in surprise behind his coworker. "Rouge? What do you want with us?"

The bat smiles charmingly. "I hear you owe a certain echidna a favor or two."

Vector pushes Espio aside, to let the female inside. "Ah…" he starts out nervously, watching her walk in and look around. "D-Did Knuckles need something?"

She smiles sweetly at him, jumping up to sit on his desk, crossing her legs and resting her hands on her knee. "Yes, actually, and I have good news, and bad news."

"Well…" the croc starts. "What's going on?"

Her smirk fades, and a serious frown takes over. "Vector, we've found a way to bring Sonic back to life."

Both members of the Chaotix practically choke on her words.

"What?!" Espio exclaims. "How is that possible?"

She holds up a hand, to shush them. "Listen to me carefully: Sonic is a Chaos User. When a Chaos User dies, they don't exactly 'die.' They go into a coma-like state where their body is dead, but their Chaos Energy lives in a separate dimension. When they build up enough energy, they can travel back to our dimension and communicate with us."

They couldn't believe it. Vector shakes his head, unable to wrap his brain around it. "So, like a ghost?"

She shrugs. "Kind of. Well, here's the thing. Sonic actually did this already. He left Tails a message telling him to take the red Chaos Emerald to a temple somewhere up in Holoska. We did, and after we put the emerald in the temple, on a pedestal, we were able to talk to Sonic. We seen him. He told us everything and what we have to do to bring him back to life."

"That sounds so absurd…" Espio breathes, while Vector pulls out a chair to sit.

"I know," Rouge answers softly, "but it's the truth. We have a chance to bring Sonic back, and that's were the bad news comes in."

They both look up at her, as she closes her eyes.

"He's in danger. Apparently there's a demon in that dimension hunting him down. It wants to use Sonic's energy to escape. If it does, all of us will be in danger. Sonic wants us to be ready to take it down if and when it escapes. He also needs our help collecting the Chaos Emeralds and taking them to the temples they belong in, so we can bring him back."

"And you need our help?" Vector assumes. The girl nods.

"Yes. I need you boys to do us a large favor. G.U.N. had you three investigating the whereabouts of Shadow, correct?"

The two both share surprised looks. "How did you find this out?" Espio demands. "This was supposed to be secret."

The bat smirks softly. "Really? I work for G.U.N. just as you guys 'secretly' do. How I found out, shouldn't be surprising to anyone."

The chameleon seemed a bit defeated. Vector takes this moment to speak up. "We know where Shadow is, but we haven't told G.U.N. because we felt he deserves to be left alone."

"Well we need him now," Rouge hops off the desk, standing up. "Sonic wants Shadow around, in case this demon gets out. He says that we alone might not be enough to stand up to him, and with Shadow on our side, we have a chance."

Vector nods, rubbing his eyes. "This all sounds insane but…" he stands up, determination in his tone. "It's for Sonic. Anything we can do to help, we will."

He walks passed Rouge to his desk, holding up a few papers. "Shadow is on the ARK. He went up there to destroy the Black Comet, and he was still there when we left."

"I should have known," Rouge murmurs, shaking her head. "We need to get up there…"

"Can't Tails build a shuttle to reach there?" Espio asks. The white bat turns and shakes her head.

"That poor boy has enough on his hands. If we're going to get up there, we're going to have to get a shuttle ourselves."

Vector puts the papers down, frowning thoughtfully. "And where are we going to get a shuttle? You can't exactly pick one up from the store or anything…"

All three of them were quiet for a moment, before Rouge had the idea.

"We steal one. From G.U.N."


Tails kept the laptop on all the time, on the writer, ready for Sonic to use if he needed. He caught himself constantly checking it, seeing if anything was written there for him, then getting disappointed when nothing showed up. He knew he had to be patient, but he just wanted a sign from his brother. Anything to let him know Sonic was still there.

He sat on the counter by the laptop itself, holding another one on his lap. He was trying to research the temples they needed to take the emeralds into, but was coming up dry.

"Tails? You okay?" Knuckles's voice was heard, and he looks up, smiling, to see the ruby guardian himself step into the lab.

"Yeah, I'm good, but I might have to make a trip to Shamar to visit Professor Pickle about these temples," he explains.

Knuckles raises a brow, stepping over to the table in the center of the room, leaning against it while crossing his arms. "Do you think he knows about them?"

Tails shrugs. "He might. He has a passion for studying Mobian history, as well as the temples and information left behind. He knew about the Gaia Temples and the Gaia's."

The echidna nods. "Alright." He looks over at the laptop screen, seeing the empty writer. "You should leave this here, so when Sonic comes for a visit, he knows where to find it."

The kitsune nods. "I've already decided that. I have it hooked up to my Miles Electric, so if he does show and up and writes something, I'll be notified about it and see it."

"Good," Knuckles agrees. "You should probably get some rest before you go."

Tails looks away, his sky blue eyes watching the leaves on the trees outside through the large window to his left. "I know, I will. Sonic would be mad at me."

The guardian chuckles quietly. "You know it. I'm going to put the Master Emerald in a safe spot, then I'll go with you. Sleep tonight, and we'll head out tomorrow."

The kit smiles gratefully. "Thank you, Knuckles."

"I want him back as much as you do," he answers, turning and heading for the door, "and we'll get him back."

Tails watches the guardian leave, taking his words to heart.


"You sure this is a good idea?" Espio questions, feeling a slight anxiety from this plan. "They're going to come after us once they find out about this."

Rouge smirks, while Vector slaps the chameleon on the back. "Don't be such a pansy, Espio!" he exclaims, making the reptile sneer a bit. "We'll just have Knuckles deal with them later!"

"You boys ready?" Rouge asks, pulling the seat belts over her shoulders.

Realizing they were about to take off, the two Chaotix jump in their seats, buckling up as well.

"Wait," Espio starts. "Are we just going to leave Charmy down there?"

"He's our distraction!" Vector reminds him. "Plus, he'll be fine. He's only six, they can't arrest him or anything."

"It's G.U.N., though…"

Rouge presses the final button, grabbing the gears with a smirk. "We're off in ten…nine…eight…"

Espio shook his head. "This is ridiculous. If something happens to him…"

"Seven…six…five…"

Vector rolled his eyes. "I think you just don't want to go back into space."

"Four…three…two…"

The chameleon glared back at him. "I am perfectly fine with-!"

"One!"

As they started to lift off, Espio turned green, suddenly not feeling so well.


"You…"

He didn't understand. He couldn't understand.

"Why?"

Chaos only stared back at him, unmoving, unpredictable.

Think of this as a trial. One I need you to pass.

Sonic's ears were all the way back against his head. "A trial for what?" He felt confused and hurt, in a way betrayed. "I help you and this is how you repay me?!"

Everything happens for a reason. Everything you've ever been through, is a trial. A test. This is your newest one.

Control was something he had always been against. Nothing could control him. He refused to allow it. "What… Why are you doing this to me? Why me?"

You chose this life.

"What are you talking about?!" he sits up, tempted to launch himself at the god. "Stop talking in riddles! I don't understand any of this! I don't want any of this! I just want to go home!"

I do not need you to understand any of this. I need you to listen to me. To trust me.

He felt so lost. So confused. "Just…answer my question. Why?"

I will explain everything to you in time.

Sonic shakes his head. "I want to know now."

You pass this trial, and I will tell you.

The god was starting to fade away, and Sonic bolted to his feet, panic taking over him. "Wait! What trial?!"

You have till the day of your birth to pass.

Chaos was completely gone now, leaving the hedgehog standing alone and confused.

"My…birthday?"


He sat up with a gasp of no breath, his pupils shrunken. "Locke!" he screams.

He rolls over, holding his chest. It hurt so bad… "Locke!"

Hitting the floor, he curls up in a ball, shaking, shivering.

The bedroom door flies open, the echidna himself running through. "Sonic!" he kneels down beside him. "Gods, what happened? Are you okay?"

Sonic tries to stand, his legs shaking too much for him to do so, however. "I…I had a dream…"

The guardian gets the hero to sit on the bed, sitting beside him, holding him steady. "What of, Sonic?"

"Ch-Chaos…" the hero chokes out. "Chaos…it said something about a trial…that it was the reason I died…"

Locke blinks in shock. "Chaos itself?"

Sonic nods, shakily. "Y-Yes, but I don't understand. It said I had until my birthday to pass some kind of trial or test or something... That the reason I died was because it wants me to do this…"

"Your birthday…" Locke repeats. "That's… Oh no…"

Sonic looks up at him. "W-When?"

"Two weeks. You have to get your life back in two weeks…"


Author's Note:

Yay, I can start writing the good stuff now.

So…dun dun dunnn? He went from having no time limit, to only two weeks to get his life back. Aren't I just mean?

Oh, just to mess with you guys, three more characters will be joining us next chapter. You guys already know who the first one's gonna be.

Oh, yeah, before I forget, I got a question for ya guys:

Do you know de wey?